This didn’t look like an ambush as he’d suspected. It looked like a community, but a small, muddled one. How long had these people been camped out down here? Why hadn’t he encountered them before? He’d spent almost the past year living in the city’s tunnels and thought himself the only shifter free from Freya’s control.
“What is this place?” Elijah murmured.
“People who’ve managed to get away from Freya,” answered Michael. “Most of them are like Geth, either sick or dying.”
“I’ve managed to help some of them, but many are beyond my aid,” Aiden told him.
Elijah glanced at the old man. He didn’t smell like a sorcerer, he smelt shifter. “What are you?”
Aiden pulled aside a makeshift bed. “Your questions can wait. Your friend cannot.”
He laid Geth down and watched Aiden get to work, examining the wounds and mixing something together. It reminded him of Kaylan’s healing skills, but different, since she didn’t sniff or taste blood the way Aiden did.
“Why would Freya turn an old man?” Elijah wondered aloud.
“She didn’t. Aiden is a born shifter. Like you,” answered Michael. “The Order had him locked up for years and performed experiments. They couldn’t use him to create other shifters like they did with you.”
Elijah felt the familiar pang of guilt. All of this was his fault, at least in part. If it weren’t for him, this mess never would have happened. But now wasn’t the time for self-pity. He couldn’t change the past, but he would make sure it didn’t become part of his future. “What’s wrong with him?” he asked Aiden.
“Your friend has the sickness. When the body rejects shifter venom,” Aiden explained. “Some people can’t accept the change.”
“Kaylan…” he started to say.
“Your mate can’t help him, but I think I can.”
“How?” Elijah folded his arms.
“An ointment. I may have been imprisoned for the past ten years, but I still remember the old ways.” Aiden dabbed anointment over Geth’s bite marks.
Elijah sniffed, but didn’t recognise the scent. “How did you know about Kaylan?” he demanded, remembering the old man mentioning her by name.
“I know all about you. The others told me and I heard things up at the mansion.”
Elijah shook his head. “I don’t even know if I can trust you.”
“What choice you have? You’re running out of our allies,” Aiden said. “I despise Freya and will do whatever I can to help you and your friends stop her.”
Elijah watched in silence as the old man continued to work.
Geth suddenly opened his eyes. “Where am I?”
“Safe,” Aiden replied. “Your wounds are healing well.”
Geth glanced over at the others. “What’s wrong with them?”
“They’re dying. Their bodies couldn’t accept the change,” said Aiden. “They’re beyond my help now. But you’ll be fine. You’re not a shifter.”
“I can help them. I heard you talking earlier. I’m an alchemist,” said Geth. “Maybe I can reverse the change.”
Elijah felt relieved to see his friend returning to his old self, but they had more pressing issues. “Geth, we don’t have time for this. We need to find Kaylan and Sierra before they get themselves killed.”
Geth frowned. “Are they hurt?”
“No, but…”
“They probably went to the mansion,” Michael said. “Freya had an important meeting with the Order there this morning. They’ll be finalising plans for the inauguration.”
“What plans?” Elijah demanded. “Why didn’t you mention it earlier?”
Michael shrugged. “All I know is that Freya plans on locking down city. She’s been turning as many people into shifters as she can,” he said. “We’re to attack on her orders. It will be a massacre. I tried to save who I can but so many are dying.”
“We won’t let that happen,” Geth said. “Aiden, take blood samples. I need to take a look at everyone to see if I can –”
“We don’t have time for that,” Elijah repeated. “We have less than two days and there is someone else we need to find first.”
“I’m doing the test anyway,” Geth said and gave Aiden further instructions.
Elijah knelt down, hearing the low rasps of people breathing. “How many shifters does Freya have?” he asked.
“Without Dan, Emily and I, about ten,” Michael replied. “Not many, but enough. The rest of the city doesn’t stand a chance.”
“If we can get everyone healed, we have a good chance of fighting back,” Elijah said. “Do you think you can track Kaylan?”
Michael frowned, nodded. “Yes, why?”
“I need to make sure she’s okay. Freya won’t stop trying to kill her,” he said. “Go find her. I have something else to take care of first.”
Elijah kept his senses on alert as he scanned the house in front of them. The small redbrick house with its broken shutters and peeling paint on the scuffed red front door was eerily quiet as he and Geth approached.
“Are you sure he’ll be able to help us?” Geth asked.
Elijah nodded. “He knows more about the book than any other living person.”
The door creaked open when he tried to turn the handle. He sniffed. The house smelt musty as if it had been empty for some time. Yet he and Kaylan had visited the old sorcerer only a couple of days before. The only sound they heard came from the creaking of the floorboards as they walked through the entrance hall.
“Silas?” Elijah called. “Silas, it’s Elijah. Are you here?”
No reply came.
He sniffed again and caught a faint coppery scent in the air. He blurred down the hall and through the door, knocking it off its hinges with a loud bang.
Cracks of light came through the broken kitchen window, shining down on the body of a man with white hair falling across his face, one eye open and staring up, accusingly.
Elijah swore as he knelt beside Silas. There was no point in checking for a pulse as he knew there was none. Damn it, Silas had been their last hope of discovering the secrets of the book. Judging by the slashes and gouges, it appeared he must have been killed by a shifter. Probably not long after Geth and Sierra had left him two nights ago.
Fuck, they had told him to stay at their safe house. He thought Silas had known better than to return to his former home. But he had been one of the last of the original Amaranthine Order. He had been the High Lord Edmund’s adviser. Freya wouldn’t have let the old man pose a threat to her plans. Damn it, how many more had to die in her quest for power?
“Now what do we do?” asked Geth.
Elijah raised his hand, igniting the body in a rush of bright fire. “Get out of here and get back to the tunnels.” He felt a pang of guilt as he glanced down at the burning embers, wishing they had time to give their old friend a proper funeral. This was the best he could do for Silas now.
Elijah? He heard an unfamiliar voice in his mind. It took him a moment for him to realise it was Michael. Yes?
Something is wrong. Kaylan and Sierra are inside a warehouse that members of the Order use for experiments. I think they’re in trouble.
Elijah muttered a curse. We’re on our way. I’ll send Geth…He stopped when he noticed a crystal lying where Silas’s body had been.
A small piece of quartz hung on a silver chain. Elijah bent down picked it up.
“What is it?” asked Geth.
He shrugged. “Maybe nothing, but it looks familiar. Let’s take it and get Sierra to check it out.”
Trees, buildings and light flashed past as Elijah sped towards Kaylan’s presence, gripping Geth’s arm as he went.
“Phew!” Geth breathed. “Bloody hell. I think I left some of my organs behind.”
Elijah ignored him as his gaze took in the warehouse. All metal and stone. The air hummed with the force of a very powerful ward.
Kaylan? He reached out to her with his mind, but no reply came. His hands cl
enched into fists. If Freya hurt her, he’d kill her without hesitation. Two wolves bounded over to him.
We can’t find a way in, Michael told him. Kaylan hasn’t replied to our calls either.
“Kaylan? Sierra?” Elijah engaged his comm crystal.
No response.
Geth pulled out his porta-crystal as he tried to track their locations. “They’re on the north side of the building. Looks like they’re locked in.”
“Well, then we’ll just have to get them out.” Elijah went to the nearest door, static rippling against his fingers as he pushed at it. There was no handle or anywhere to him to grip or grab a hold of. The ward jolted him back and he growled. If it was a door, there had to be a way to open it. He scanned the walls for a control panel but found none. “Geth, do something!”
Geth glanced at his porta-crystal and back at the door. “I’m not Sierra. I can’t just make things open.”
Elijah growled again. The need to get Kaylan now felt almost overwhelming. Fire formed in his hand, he hurled it at the door, but the burst of magic fizzled out as soon as it struck the ward. Staring at it, Elijah knew this was the place he’d been held captive along with Michael and the others after he’d been turned into a shifter. The thought of what Freya might do to her sister made him panic. But fear wouldn’t save her or Sierra.
Elijah took a deep breath, let it out and turned to face the other two men. “This is the place I was imprisoned.”
Something dark crossed the face of the other shifter. He could understand Michael’s fear. Despite blocking out the memories, they had started returning since Kaylan had come back into his life. Yet some of it remained a blur – especially the night of his escape. His need to see Kaylan one more time had given him the strength needed to kill the guards. The last time he’d been there he’d broken out, not in, and that made a big difference.
“I don’t think brute strength is going to get you in,” Geth remarked.
“What do you suggest then?” Elijah demanded. “I need to get Kaylan. Now!”
Geth flinched and Michael took a step back. Elijah knew anger wouldn’t help yet the need to find Kaylan had taken over.
“Focus. You and Kaylan can sense each other, right?” Geth asked.
“Not now I can’t.”
“That’s because you’re letting emotion get the best of you,” his friend said and instructed the other shifter to cover the perimeter.
“Since you and Kaylan are bonded, you must be able to find each other. Aiden told me a bit about how shifter bonds work,” Geth mused.
Elijah gritted his teeth. “So?” he demanded.
“Concentrate, Elijah,” Geth snapped. “Put aside your feelings and focus on Kaylan.”
Elijah closed his eyes, ignoring the tornado of emotions flowing through him. It took several moments for his mind to calm as he tried to focus. Finding Kaylan telepathically had always been instinctual. He’d always had trouble trying to consciously find her.
Light flashed as he felt a rush of panic. His heart pounded in his ears and his eyes burned from an acrid smoke.
Kaylan? It took a second to realise that they were connected. He was feeling her emotions.
Elijah? She let out a sigh. Sierra and I are trapped in a lab.
I know. I’m outside, but I can’t get in. What can you see?
There’s a control panel. Sierra is working on it, but I don’t think Freya will stay away for long.
What else?
There’s an air vent some gas came through – but I blocked it.
Is it big enough to climb through? He felt a ray of hope.
Maybe – wait. Someone’s coming.
Chapter 5
Kaylan let out a breath. She and Sierra had just come close to being choked to death. Had their disguises really been so transparent?
Elijah, we’re okay. You don’t need to worry about us, she said. Everything is under control.
You’re still stuck in there, he protested.
“Geez, I thought she’d torture first before she suffocated us,” Sierra muttered. “Now what do we do?”
“Get the hell out of here.”
“Maybe you should let Elijah help us.”
She bit her lip and shook her head. “No, not yet.”
She didn’t want to call Elijah in unless they had to. He’d be angry they had gone off alone but it had to be done.
Kaylan searched through the jumbled memories of her alias and keyed in the code to the door. It slid open, she drew a knife as she and Sierra appeared out into the hallway. It was empty.
“Freya wouldn’t let us go so easily,” she murmured.
“I think we should get out of here,” Sierra said, shoving the pages of the book into her backpack.
Kaylan reached out to Elijah with her mind, relieved to sense he was okay. “Shouldn’t we go through the stuff in here first?” she wondered. “There might be a clue to where we can find the book.”
“Kay, I have a bad feeling. Let’s go. Please.”
“Okay.” She scanned the hall one more time, motioned for Sierra to follow.
Sierra pulled out her stunner as they moved.
Kaylan tried using her heightened senses, relieved her powers had started to recover. The sound of another heartbeat caught her attention just as a stream of energy shot towards them. She shoved Sierra back and hit the ground as a blast of energy hit the wall behind them.
Kaylan gripped her knife and flung it towards their assailant. It narrowly missed his head as he yelped and ducked.
Sierra let off a stream and he slumped to the floor, unconscious. “Hey, isn’t that Norbert?”
Kaylan squinted as she knelt to examine the old man. “Yeah, it’s him, alright.”
“Why is he attacking us?”
“Let’s find out.” She pulled Norbert up by his shoulders, dragged him into the lab and tied him to a chair with rope from her pack. She checked his pulse again to make sure the stunner hadn’t caused any damage.
“How long is she going to be out?” Sierra asked, shifting from foot to foot. “I want to get out of here.”
“Not yet.” Kaylan pulled out a smelling salt, held it under Norbert’s nose.
The old man jolted awake, gasping for breath. “What the – Jasmine, what are you doing?”
“I’ll ask the questions. You must know who we are, so cut the crap. What did Freya order you to do?” Kaylan demanded.
Sierra held up her stunner. “I’d answer her questions if I were you, unless you want another jolt. This time, I’ll make sure it’s low enough for you to stay awake and feel all the pain.”
He flinched and glared at them. “I know you’re not the real Jasmine and Emmeline. You may look like them, but I know they went missing a couple of hours ago,” he said. “I’ve been watching over every single member of the Order to make sure they stay in line. Who are you two?”
“That doesn’t matter,” Kaylan said and muttered words of power.
Norbert’s head slumped forward for a moment then he blinked up at them. “What…”
“Truth spell. Does Freya know we’re imposters?”
He shook his head. “No, I wanted to check on you myself. She’s too unstable and I won’t risk my chance at immortality by annoying her.”
“Good. Now–”
Kaylan? She jumped at the sound of Elijah’s voice inside her mind. Where are you?
Following a lead. She felt the anxiety coming through the bond. What’s wrong?
Geth and I found another group of shifters. Some of them who couldn’t be turned are dying, he told her. Healing magic won’t work and Freya is turning more and more people for the inauguration. Geth’s trying to come up with a cure, but we don’t have enough time. If only we knew what Freya used to turn them. I just called again to make sure you’re safe. Are you?
I’m fine. I think I might be able to help with the cure.
How? Elijah asked.
No time to explain. Just know that Freya is turning p
eople because the spell she needs to acquire immortality requires death. She’ll need that to fuel the spell, Kaylan said. We’ll talk more later.
She ended the connection and narrowed her eyes that Norbert. “That night of the fire in your house, you set an ambush for us, didn’t you?”
“Yes, Freya said the Amaranthine – you’re her sister, aren’t you?”
“Never mind that. What did you do to the shifter you caught?” she snapped.
“Kay, now’s not the time for personal revenge,” Sierra hissed.
“It’s not. This is important.”
Norbert frowned. “Elijah? Freya gave me information on him after our other experiments failed,” he answered. “I used his life code to create the Stardust drug. It was the easiest way to turn others, but the Amaranthine hindered my efforts and the High Lord ordered the guards to arrest anyone in possession of the drug. I had to resort to capturing people off the street and turning them that way.”
“Is there a way of reversing the change?”
Norbert paused. “Ena and I didn’t make one.”
“Do you still have the formula?”
“Yes, but…”
“Sierra, hack into his files and send the formula to Geth.”
“No need. Norbert, what’s your pass code?” Sierra pulled out her porta-crystal as he recited the code.
“What else does Freya have planned for inauguration?” Kaylan asked.
“Just to receive immortality.”
“What else?” she repeated.
His brow creased tighter as he tried to resist. “She…”
An alarm wailed, Kaylan held her breath as footsteps echoed down the corridor coming straight towards them. Sierra looked up from where she was working on the control panel. “Bugger!” she muttered. “What should we do?”
Kaylan took to the air. Most people didn’t look up when they entered the room; it provided a good vantage point for taking them down hard and fast.
Sierra ducked around the corner in an effort to hide.
A loud buzzing sound echoed through the lab as the double doors slid open.
Kaylan held her breath, drew her knife, magic flaring in her other hand. As the figure came in, she swooped down, legs flying as she kicked out, knocking them to the ground.
The Amaranthine Chronicles Complete Series: Betrayed By Blood, Dark Revenge, The Final Battle Page 15